by Social media is a must-have in today’s business landscape — even for farmers.
Unlike traditional marketing, social media lets you be more personable and creative. It’s a prime opportunity to build your brand in a more natural and easygoing way than a newsletter or a landing page on a website.
To give you some inspiration, here are five benefits of using social media for farmers and some real-world examples from our customers.
1. Puts a Human Face to Your Business
Farms provide an attractive alternative to a corporate supermarket chain because of the quality and the people. Customers want to buy from businesses they can relate to personally, and social media is a great way to show off your personality to the world.
Here’s a great example from J & L Green Farm.
Remember, not every post has to highlight a new deal or product offer. If you own a family farm, don’t be afraid to share your day-to-day life with your followers, or pictures and videos of your dogs (people love dogs on social media).
Posts like these also make your brand (and you) more approachable. After all, people don’t want to feel like you’re always trying to sell them something. Sometimes, advertising with a friendly face and a fun atmosphere is just as effective as showing a beautiful marbled steak or freshly picked produce.
2. Highlights Unique Offers
While personality is king, social media is also great for showing off what makes you unique. Highlight new products and unique offers on social media.
Use an appealing picture and support it with a fun description that inspires people to try a new recipe or take a chance on a cut of beef they might be intimidated by.
For example, check out this awesome stock-making kit from The Family Cow.
Note: They also include a link to sign up for their newsletter on their bio — another good practice to follow for your social media accounts.
Social media is also a great way to highlight short-term sales, holiday promotions, and other discounts. Create posts that emphasize that the offer is only short term (e.g., “For a limited time only,” “while supplies last,” “until December 14th,” etc.).
3. Shows Off Quality
Part of building your brand as a small farm is educating people on the quality of your products. If you raise animals, show a post highlighting their living conditions and why it’s better than the more convenient supermarket options.
Cunningham Pastured Meats does this very effectively, by showing cows grazing and telling you why it’s a good time to buy.
You could also share some farming tips or take a video of your daily work. While it might not seem useful for a customer, it shows your commitment to quality products and highlights your values.
4. Stay Ahead of Trends
Fresh food e-commerce trends are constantly changing, and keeping up to date can feel impossible. Social media makes it much easier to see what competitors are doing and how customers respond to different products in real time.
Additionally, with ethical and sustainable products at the top of many customers’ minds, social media is an effective and easy way to highlight your commitment and showcase your sustainable farming practices.
This post from David’s Pasture is a good example, showing their packaging along with a post that shares their mission statement on ethical, community-focused farming.
5. Build Relationships With Customers
Last but certainly not least, social media is excellent for connecting and conversing directly with customers.
Make sure to respond to comments on your posts (even negative ones), as many people use social media instead of leaving traditional reviews. Similarly, many people use social media when researching what products and brands to buy from.
A great example is this post from Morris Grassfed Beef, that thanks one customers and uses the chance to thank all of their loyal customers.
Use social media to express your gratitude for your customers. If you go to a farmers market and meet a fan, grab a selfie. If someone tags you in their post of a fantastic dinner they made with your produce, share their story on your feed.
Last, use social media to get feedback once you have a following. Post a survey asking customers if there are any products they’d like to see or are interested in learning more about. Even all the sales reports and trend data in the world sometimes aren’t as useful as just, well, asking.
Tips for Getting Started on Social Media
Unlike your personal social media accounts, you’ll want to use a business account for your farm marketing pages. On most platforms, this is as easy as changing a setting and doesn’t cost any money.
Regardless of the platform you choose, post regularly. Social media platforms make finding brands that post often easier, so create a schedule and stick to it.
Here is an overview of setting up a business account on some of the most popular platforms:
Create a profile on Instagram, and then go to the hamburger menu (the three horizontal lines) in the upper right. Tap “Settings and privacy,” then “Account type and tools.” From there, you should be able to switch to a business account.
Instagram has several optional, paid ways to engage with your audience — such as targeted ads for local users — but you should work on getting into a regular post schedule.
See this page for an overview of setting up an Instagram account for your business.
To set up a Facebook business page, go to the Pages section of the sidebar and create a new page.
Add your business information, such as website, phone number, email, and operating hours. Then, add a cover image that’s 820 x 312 pixels (you can make this easy by using a design tool like Canva). Your profile image should be about 180 x 180 pixels.
For more detailed instructions, check out this resource from Facebook’s website.
TikTok
If you’re social media savvy and enjoy creating fun videos, TikTok might be the right choice for you.
Like Instagram, setting up a TikTok business account is as simple as switching the type of account in your settings.
Benefits of Social Media vs. Traditional Marketing
Many businesses hesitate to wade into the fast-moving world of social media because they’re already advertising — and it’s working.
However, if you skip social media, you’re missing out on one of the most effective advertising channels small businesses have today. Not to mention that there are billions of active users on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social platforms.
Here are a few distinct benefits of social media for farmers over traditional marketing methods:
- Cost-effective: Setting up a business account on social media platforms is free, and the only investment you’ll make (at least at first) is your time.
- Networking: As you’re more active on a social network, you might find that your posts catch the eye of other local businesses, giving you a chance to connect and create new opportunities.
- More responsive: Social media is all about engagement, and it’s a great way to connect directly to your customers or get real-time feedback.
- Increased traffic and sales: Sparking someone’s interest on social media is a great way to get them to check out your website, which helps improve your search ranking and drives sales.
While there are many great reasons to use social media, you shouldn’t abandon traditional marketing methods like e-mail, SMS, or paid search. Social media should be seen as one part of your complete grassroots marketing strategy.
Set Yourself Up for Success With Simplified Online Food Sales
The overarching goal of using social media for farmers is to build your brand and increase sales. But even if you’re a master of social media, people will be turned off if your website is outdated or hard to use.
GrazeCart is a fresh food e-commerce platform that simplifies food sales for small to mid-size farmers, butchers, fishmongers, and grocers. Unlike generic platforms like Shopify, GrazeCart comes with many user-friendly features specifically created for farmers built-in:
- Sell by weight
- Real-time inventory tracking
- Subscription box support
- No-code website builder
- Delivery and pickup support
… and more.
Check out our free guide to farmer e-commerce software or watch a demo today.